Customer Reviews

Woyaya

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

An excellent follow up to their debut album, this CD is much better recorded, and the songs show more variety and maturity. The percussion steals the show. The seven musicians play a kind of African jazz rock with a great deal of energy and feeling. The absolute stand out track is "Survival", with Loughty Amao's incredible vocal "scat" percussion, and a chant that will bring goose bumps to your skin. I saw Osibisa perform "Survival" live in 1971. With no prompting the entire audience left their seats, began dancing in front of the band stand, and when Osbisa told everyone "Now you people, lift up your hands, and sing this song!" Thousands began to chant to the music. It was an incredible live concert experience I will never forget. You can come close to that experience, feel the drum beats in your chest, and sway and dance to this joyous music, when you play this CD. The sound of the recording captures the essential thrill and excitement of Osibisa. I defy you to keep your body still through any one of the songs on the CD. A thoroughly enjoyable musical experience.

If you like this album come & see the Band LIVE!
Yes OSIBISA is alive & well & still blowing the fans away with there amazing music, just like they always have. The line up has changed a little but the feet can't stop once an Osibisa show starts.
I was both a friend & a fan back in the early 70s.
This was a band that opened our ears in the western world, to the sounds of Africa & the rhythms of the heart beat!
I lost contact with the band for some years & was reunited by an agent (Denis Vaughan - thank you Denis) who asked me to tour manage a band to Hungary for a TV show (later I discovered it was Osibisa). It was great to see Teddy, Sol, Kofi, Gregg & the guys again & we have been working together since. The band are working on a regular basis recently playing in Leverkusen Germany, The North Sea Jazz Festival & Polsmore Prison - Cape Town South Africa & some UK dates including an amazing sound at Off The Tracks Festival in Suffolk thanks to Graham Beresford & the team from Loud and clear productions Nottingham.
Check www.osibisa.co.uk for details & contact information. See you at the next Osibisa GIG.
Mick Tee - Osibisa - Tour Manager

Osibisa's 2nd album - way ahead of its time when it was released in the 70's. My vinyl copy was borrowed & never returned many years ago and it took a long time to track down again on cd (life before internet). Have been playing this album for 30 years and it still sounds great. Every home should have one; if you only buy one Osibisa album then this is the one to get. Don't judge them by their later brief forays into the pop charts; this is a more sophisticated & mature offering altogether. 'World' music is a lot more fashionable in the UK than it was back then, and this is as good as it gets. Music to feel good to.

This is one CD that I use to test speakers. Fire up Survival, turn up the volume, if they can handle this, they are fine. Why you ask? Because this is meant to be played loud, and the bass will rattle a room. WARNING if you rent, don't try this at home. Beautiful 7, and the uplifting ending cut Woyaya make this a must have for world music fans.

Remeber the 70's going to concerts with your long hair friends yep I saw them in concert they where a warm-up for Eric Burdon and War, who heard of them no body in the San Diego Sports Arena that night had. They came out and then after the first song had us moving our feet to the beat. Kinda of a jazz with africian overtones, tight band, they way that they played off of each other they knew how to keep us up and dancing. Finally it was over and War came out for an hour we where still doing good and then Eric Burdon came out did " Spill The Wine " after that it was down hill the from the mood that Osbisia got us in. We were more than warmed - up, and ready for War but somehow Eric was a bust to the evning, the crowd started to walk out before Eric was finihed to keep the mood. Sorry to say I was one of them. I brought this ablum on vinyl played it till you could see light though the grooves. I am now going to order the cd just made my day, to find it. For you younger ones that do not remeber the seventies this is a good dance album if you like to move your feet and dance to the beat just good clean tight uplifting music I know only seven songs on the album but remeber 33 1/3 vinyl alums getting 45 minutes of music off of one was good but then you had to flip it over. Jeese this will be nice to have the cd. No grooves to wear out and no B-side.

I have loved this album/CD and sung the lyrics to some of these songs on a weekly basis for almost 30 years. What musical FLOW... Thank you to the members of Osibisa for such a great, ethereal work that was way ahead of its time.

Normally when I think of "World Music" I want to stick my finger down my throat and gag, but in this case... I only bring this up because I have seen Osibisa classified in the World Music genre and I hate to categorize them that way, however accurate it may be.

I got this album in the early seventies because of the album cover alone. That was enough to pique my interest. The music was surely not what I expected but it has a groove to it that I liked. This album was especially good with heavy incense, a black light, and that cover done over in dayglo paint. The good old days!

I have not heard this or their first album in thirty years yet I can still remember the melody to Woyaya. I suppose if you are a World Music freak then this album is for you. They were original, and they were unique and there has never been anything quite like them since. The combination of Wendell Richardson and Teddy Osei had magic that still shines through today. To me, Osibisa is the exception to the rule and I highly recommend them even for rockers!

I owned this LP (remember those????) almost 30 years ago and ever since I lost it I had been searching everywhere for a copy of this album until I bougth it here about a year ago. Well, now I know why I kept looking for this record!!!!! It is probably one of the best records I own. I lent it to my 15 year old son a couple of weeks ago and now he doesn't want to give it back. Osibisa performs in such a way that will lift up your spirits no matter when or where you listen to it. A week doesn't go by that I do not listen to it at least once while driving. Their use of drums, nature sounds and voices will keep you entertained time and time again.

This has got to be one of my all time favorite albums! I have been listening to it since my brother brought it home from his friends house after the album first came out. My brother's friend got it from his own brother who worked at a radio station so I think it was a promotional album. I still have the vinyl album. In fact,I was so impressed with not only the music but also the cover artwork that I had the flying elephant TATTOOED ON MY BACK!! I feel this is their best album but it has been quite awhile since I have heard any of their other music. The songs on this album have been stuck in my head for over 30 years and I never get tired of them. Another album that I would recommend is "Flaming Drums" by Olatunji. This album was made in 1962 on Columbia records. I bought it at a yard sale or used record store in 1969 or 1970[or there-abouts] and have been enjoying it ever since. I cannot wait to get them both on cd so I can enjoy them in my vehicles. Broaden your musical horizons and buy this music.

Woyaya is one of those reworkings of an original recording or song that simply transcends the power of the original. This musical alchemy, in the case of Woyaya, comes from the infusion of a dirgelike quality, the grain of pain, elegiac and occult, into a trite European or American original. The polyrhythms of Ghanaian indigenous music forms and highlife and Afrorock turn a song that could be dismissed as a pop song into an anthem of the metaphysical anguish that African societies have had to go through since their unfortunate interaction with Europeans in the 16th century and numerous tragedies thereafter.